Hospital Stay

First few hours: Our first couple hours went by fast and were quite hectic. Maggie was brought to my chest immediately after she was born and stayed there for nearly 90 minutes before being weighed, measured and cleaned up. While I loved the moment, I hated that Matt didn't get to hold her right away and he has said that is something he didn't like this time around. I understand the importance for skin to skin with the mom and I loved that I got to do that again, but I still ache thinking Matt didn't get to hold her for so long. Once we got me up and walking, we needed to get the room packed up and moved over to our new room on the other side of the hospital.

Weighed 8 lb 11.5 oz and measured 21.5 in 

Introducing Emma to Maggie: Because I didn't want to pass Emma in the hall as we were moving rooms without her meeting Maggie first, we brought her into our delivery room before we headed over. While Matt went to go get Emma from our parents, I moved to a chair so it would be easier for her to get up and see Maggie. As they walked in the room, Emma went right past me and started exploring the the bed and all the gadgets that were around. She had no interest until we sat her right next to me. She was a bit confused (we think she thought of Maggie as a baby doll) and just sat there and looked at her and then looked at me. After a few minutes, Emma finally touched her and just stared at her.

Visitors: Once we got settled in our new room, our parents and Emma came in to see Maggie. We waited until they saw Maggie to tell them her name and stats. Our poor families had to wait almost four hours before they knew any details which I am sure drove them crazy. On Saturday, Blake and his girlfriend Kinsey visited along with my co-worker/friend, Aimee and her daughter Simone.

Nursing: This is probably the most disappointing aspect of our hospital stay. Like Emma, Maggie didn't latch on well and when she did, it was constant biting. Through the night on Friday was the worst, I was sobbing from the extreme pain and knew this isn't what it was supposed to feel like. The nurse we had was super sweet, but she was a "floater" nurse and not a pediatrics nurse, so therefore she  just had me nurse through the pain before trying other things or getting a lactation consultant. It wasn't until the very end that I said I needed a shield, I couldn't do this anymore. By the time our next nurse started, she realized I was bleeding, cracked and starting to scab over and really worked with us on trying to latch with the shield. Even with the shield, it was beyond painful because of the damage done earlier. Luckily, we got a great lactation consultant that worked with us up until we left.

Heading home: We were itching to get out of the hospital and head home to Emma by Sunday morning (Mother's Day). Luckily this time around, we were able to leave at 11:00 a.m. Prior to leaving, Matt's parents came to visit again before heading back to Litchfield. We also got the all clear from my OB and the pediatrician. Then it was up to us to get packed up, Maggie ready and get the official discharge instructions from the nurse. Unlike her sister, Maggie slept the whole way home and didn't mind her car seat at all.

Maggie wore the same outfit home that my mom, myself and Emma all wore home from the hospital. 

Once home, big sister Emma (and Nana) were there to welcome us. Emma was so excited that she got right in the car to greet Maggie. My mom was nice enough to stick around and help for a little bit after so we could get unpacked, Emma lunch and get us all comfortable to do this on our own. Emma was able to hold Maggie and watch her a little bit before needing to go down for a nap, which resulted in her first major meltdown since Maggie's arrival.

Maggie's Birth Story

I was 39 weeks and 1 day on Friday, May 8, when we were scheduled to be induced to meet our second baby girl. It was just like any other day in our household: getting us all ready, out the door and Emma to Nana's. Except this day we were dropping her off as a family of three and next time we would see Emma, we would be a family of four with two daughters.

Let me say this on Maggie's delivery: thank goodness it was NOTHING like my pregnancy. To be honest, if we were to have more and I could be guaranteed not to have another pregnancy like I did but have a similar labor and delivery, I would have another in a heartbeat. (Ssshhh….don't tell Matt!) It was quick and pretty uneventful.

We checked into the hospital at 7:30 and were taken to where I would labor and deliver. The hospital is under construction, so you labor and deliver on the Birthways floor, but recovery is in the new part of the hospital so that construction isn't disrupting the baby and family. Our room had a window being installed next door and you could hear construction guys out replacing the brick, it wasn't crazy loud or bothersome since I was clearly pre-occupied, but can see why the move us once the baby is born.

Dr. Lines came in and broke my water at 9:05 a.m. and I was 90% effaced, five centimeters and her head was so incredibly low. She said again that she thought I would have had her by now and that while she was at the hospital the weekend before, she made notes in my files that if I were to come in with contractions 10-12 minutes apart, to keep me and call her. I was relieved when she said she wasn't wanting to do Pitocin (nor was I) and thought contractions would come on their own in the next two hours. She knew I wanted an epidural eventually and encouraged me that if I wanted to not miss the window of getting one, to request it the minute I start getting uncomfortable.

At 10:45 and by the second "lap" of the hallway, I started feeling a lot of pressure and felt like I could feel her head dropping. I was done and ready to hang out in the room for the rest of it. At 11:15 contractions were coming five to seven minutes apart and getting painful. I requested the epidural and started getting hooked up to fluids at 11:40. Matt told me I better request it now and reminded me that I could miss the chance for it if I waited much longer. The anesthesiologist came and administered the epidural at 12:20 (exact same time I had one with Emma) and by then the contractions were three to five minutes apart. This time around I couldn't feel anything - no pressure or urge to push.

Dr. Lines came to check me at 1:25 and laughed and said I was nine and half centimeters and pretty much complete. She said the epidural was the magic drug for me and must relax me enough to dilate so fast. Dr. Lines had our nurse get everything ready and call the baby's nurse to the room, she would be back in five minutes to deliver. Matt and I laughed and looked at each other not thinking it was going to be that fast again.

At 1:30 Dr. Lines was back in the room and we started pushing. Again, I had no idea when I was having a contraction, so she told me when to push. After 10 minutes and seven pushes later, our little Maggie Claire was born at 1:40 measuring 21.5 inches and 8 pounds 11.5 ounces. She was healthy and perfect.

I told you it was quick and uneventful. The most happened post delivery as I lost quite a bit of blood and my uterus wasn't contracting. I started getting light-headed and they handed Maggie to Matt while they gave me a shot (Hemabate) in both my cervix and thigh to help. It took about 30 minutes to get the bleeding to normal and for my uterus to start contracting. Honestly, this was the most painful part of day. By this time my epidural had worn off and they were pushing on my stomach constantly during this 30 minutes - I was crying and shrieking in pain. It's bad enough when they do it every hour after delivery, but to have it be constant right after was enough to send me over the edge.

The next few hours were getting everything under control, getting me up and walking around, Maggie cleaned up and measured and things together to move rooms.

Stay tuned for Emma meeting Maggie for the first time, visitors and the rest of our hospital stay…..

Introducing Maggie Claire

Our new little princess has arrived and we are so excited to introduce everyone to:

Maggie Claire Shoultz

Birthday: May 8, 2015 at 1:40 p.m.

Weight: 8 lbs 11.5 oz

Length: 21.5 inches

We got home yesterday and are adjusting to our new normal as a family of four. As always, we thank our family and friends for all the well wishes and prayers. 

Hospital Stay

There was no way I could combine Emma's birth story along with everything else from our first few days with her. So I figured I would combine them in a separate blog post.

First few hours: We didn't have a birth plan (other than an epidural), but we did know that after Emma was born that we wanted a couple hours of just us three before we allowed visitors. I had heard from so many people how you will never get that moment back of meeting your child for the first time, so enjoy it and take as much time as you want. That's exactly what we did. After she was born, Matt and I enjoyed a solid three hours (or so it seems, my mom said it was two and a half hours) just staring and holding our little girl. I am so glad we took this time for us and our family.

First visitors: Emma's first visitors in the hospital were our parents and my brother, Blake, and sister, Alaina. These pictures below pretty much sum up the sheer joy of our families from seeing Emma for the first time. The ones of our parents seeing her are priceless. They were in such shock that they didn't even ask her name!

Nurses: We were blessed with absolutely wonderful nurses that always had smiles on their faces and were so unbelievably kind and patient. The around the clock (literally) care we got was top notch and so appreciated. Everyone from Beth, who was with us the entire day Emma was born. To Simone, who stepped in for Beth and got me to start pushing. That night, due to so many births, we had a shuffle of nurses, but that was okay because they were all so great. My favorite nurse was sweet Kristina who really helped Emma (and me) get the hang of breastfeeding. She worked really hard with Emma to get her to start sucking and taught her by using her finger. Jayme was our nurse during the ever fun times of cluster feedings, bless her heart.

Breastfeeding/Cluster feeding: Emma didn't latch on right away, or had difficulty doing so. They believe it is because she has a higher pallet and a strong lower jaw with a lip that always goes in. After many tried attempts and needing to get her eating, the nurses had to spoon feed or finger feed her the first 36 hours. So I would pump and then the nurses would feed her. Emma finally latched, with the help of a breast shield, in time for the night of cluster feeding. She fed for a good hour and a half the first time and then went to go do tests that night while Matt and I got a quick shut eye. She was returned to our room in time to do a round of constant feeding from 12:30-4:00. I could hardly stay awake and remember tears running down my face in just pure exhaustion. I told Matt during that time that I would rather go through contractions than do this, which tells you how not enjoyable it is.

Beth spoon feeding Emma for her first feeding

Going home: We didn't know for sure if we were going to be able to go home on Sunday due to Emma's lack of interest in eating and her weight loss. If she would have lost another ounce, we would have had to stay another day. Thankfully after seeing the pediatrician that morning, she said Emma was the healthiest baby she had seen all day and we could definitely go home. So after our parents came to visit and some lunch, we were finally able to go home around 2:30 that afternoon. There were quite a few others leaving that day too, so we had to wait a bit. It was nice to take advantage of having those nurses around all the time because the moment we leave......we are on our own! We got loaded up, Emma dressed in her going home outfit (which was worn by my mom, me and my sister when we left the hospital as babies too), in her car seat and we were on our way. It was so surreal to drive away with our little girl in the backseat and to be heading HOME as a new family of three.

Welcome home little Emma! We promise it isn't as bad as you may think it is in this picture :)

Emma's Birth Story

On Friday, July 26, 2013, our baby girl, Emma Grace, joined our family and we feel more complete than ever. 

I chose to be induced on this day because our doctor, Dr. Lines, was scheduled to be at the hospital all weekend and I really wanted her to deliver our little girl. At my 40 week appointment, I was still 80% effaced and 3 cm dilated. I wanted to go on my own, but knew Dr. Lines wouldn't induce me if she didn't think I was ready. 

We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. and so we set our alarms for 4:45 to get ready, have breakfast and get going to the hospital. We hardly slept the night before, maybe a couple hours, knowing that the next day our lives were going to be forever changed. The drive to the hospital was a short five minutes and we just talked about how this was really happening (a common theme that day). 

It was so bizarre going up the elevator and checking in at Birthways to say "We are here to have a baby". They put us in a smaller room temporarily until a large labor and delivery room was available. There we answered about 100 questions from a nurse, got blood drawn and met my nurse for the day, Beth. Beth was also the nurse that taught the childbirth class we went to, so we were relieved to see a familiar and friendly face. At 7:30 Dr. Lines came in to check me and I had dilated to 4 cm since Tuesday. She then broke my water, which she said was a bit more difficult to do because of how low her head was. There was thin meconium present, but nothing to worry about. She told us to walk around and hang out until we decide to start pitocin (which I got to decide when I wanted it). We did one lap around the floor and then got into our bigger room. 

At 9:30 I decided to have the pitocin because I wasn't really feeling any contractions and didn't want to wait much longer. Around 10:15 my mom came by and brought Matt a fountain pop and sat and talked to us for about 30 minutes. During that time is when I started to feel some, but it wasn't anything crazy, just uncomfortable. Once my mom left is when they started to pick up. Beth came in at 11:00 to ask if I wanted an epidural yet and I said no, I was fine for now. She also said that she had to step in to assist in a c-section delivery, so Simone was going to be my nurse for a couple hours. About 10 minutes later, the contractions were painful and I was crying to Matt that I wished I would have told her I wanted it then because I knew that it could take up to an hour for them to administer it. When Simone came back at 11:30, I was in so much pain and couldn't take it any longer so I asked for the epidural. Side note: People ask if I ever got mad at Matt or if he ever annoyed me during labor and he really didn't. I only got annoyed when I saw he was playing Words with Friends on his iPhone during a contraction while holding my hand and then another time when he told me to "Ssshhhhh". Other than those two small instances, he was my saving grace (other than that epidural) and was so calm and collected. He said and did all the right things. I just needed to look at him and then I knew it was going to be okay and almost over.

At 12:20 the anesthesiologist came in and I literally cried out "Thank God". While he was administering the epidural I was having contraction right on top of each other and I remember him and Simone trying to get me to relax so he can put it in. Yes, because relaxing is what I was really thinking during contractions. Much easier said than done. The epidural was in and as he left, I couldn't stop thanking him. It kicked in right away and I was much more comfortable. They said that epidurals hit everyone differently, some feel nothing and some will feel the pressure. I felt all the pressure which was good because I knew then when I was having a contraction and when I would need to start pushing. Dr. Lines then came to check on me right after that and said I had dilated to 7 cm already. I was really hoping for a number like that because I told Matt that based on that pain, I better have progressed. Dr. Lines also had to insert an internal heart monitor at this time because with all the contractions she wasn't staying still enough to monitor externally. As Dr. Lines left, she said she would come back at around 5:00 to check me and hopefully I would be ready to go. Then before Simone left the room she flipped me to my side and told me that if I felt really heavy pressure like I needed to push, then to call for her, otherwise she would be back in 30 minutes. At this time, my mom and Blake went to get Matt lunch since it didn't look like I would be having her any time before dinner.

By 1:10 I told Matt that I really felt a lot of pressure like I needed to push. He asked if he needed to get Simone and I was hesitant because I didn't know if it was something that I had just been thinking since she just told us this 20 minutes prior. I didn't want to tell her that I needed to push and that really wasn't the case. But we decided to call her anyways to have her check. She checked me and said "I think you are complete". I remember that moment looking at Matt and us both looking at each other like "What?!?". Like a "This is really happening" moment. You know, because the last nine months and leading up to that moment wasn't proof enough. Simone wanted to be sure and asked another nurse to check and she confirmed too that I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. It was then that my mom showed up with Matt's lunch and he told her it was time to push and had to put it in the fridge for after.

I started to push at 1:20 while Simone paged Dr. Lines and Beth. Beth came in around 1:45 and stayed with me the rest of the time. By about 2:00 they still couldn't reach Dr. Lines and learned that her pager wasn't working. During the pushing, all Simone and Beth would keep saying is how much hair she had. At one point, Beth asked Matt if he wanted to see. He did and his reaction to all the hair was "Oh, yea". I laughed and he said "What did you want me to say, looks good?". Dr. Lines ended up getting there just in time for her to deliver our little girl. I don't remember how many pushes it took to get her out, I just remember her saying one more good push on the next contraction and she would be here. Sure enough, it was that push that our girl arrived. 

 

At 2:52 p.m. our Emma Grace was born. The best moment of our lives. Seeing Dr. Lines hold her up and place her in my arms and looking at Matt with tears streaming down both of our faces is something I will never forget. I kept saying "Oh my gosh", like I was in complete shock. I was in shock. Emma was finally here and she was healthy, perfect and so beautiful.

Matt and I spent the next three hours as a new family of three, reveling in our new daughter. We couldn't stop staring and smiling. She is everything we wanted and more.

Introducing Emma Grace

Our sweet little girl has arrived and we are so excited to introduce everyone to:

Emma Grace Shoultz

Birthday: July 26, 2013 at 2:52 p.m.

Weight: 7 lbs 13 oz

Length: 22 inches

Emma at only five hours old with her first bow :)

We are enjoying this time getting to know her and our time as a new family of three. As soon as things slow down a bit (and momma has more energy), I will share with everyone Emma's birth story. Thank you to everyone for all the congrats, words of encouragement and check ins on us. We are truly blessed.